Sorry it took so long to respond to your post Gurney. I was out of town.
That’s quite a leap to say the least.
How is that a leap? Is it not plainly obvious that the spiritual practice of the Rosary and the Scapular were not part of the Apostolic experience? They are not doctrines of the faith, but devotional practices that evolved much later.
Code:
Of course we are told that the disciples recognized the Lord in the beraking of the Bread. But does that mean they didn't consume the bread in a meal context and instead took the bread, placed it on the mantle or somewhere in a chapel and prayed in front of it?
I think it is clear from the testimony of the NT that the Lord’s Supper came out of the Passover - feast meal. Jesus took bread and wine AFTER the supper. This is how the early “love feasts” were conducted. It was not until after the abuses that they disciples were instructed to eat the meal prior to coming for the celebration of the sacrament.
Knowing Christ is the Eucharist and worshipping it instead of eating it are two different things.
First of all, we don’t worship “it”. We worship only God. The worship of any created thing is idolatry, a mortal sin.
Furthermore, we do not worship Christ in the Eucharist “instead” of consuming. We do both.
Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans all believe the Eucharist is Jesus. When you say “the manner in which it has been practiced has varied” that’s again quite a leap.
No, this is not a “leap” either. In the East, leavened bread is used, where in the West, only unleavened. In times and places where no wine is available, only the bread is used. There was a period of time when heresy arose that the completeness of Christ was not contained in the bread alone, and for that reason, the precious blood was not distributed to the laity in the West, to make it clear that the totality of Christ, his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity is completely present. This was never done in the East.
No manner of Adoration existed until the Middle Ages.
The Apostles fell on their knees adoring the risen Christ. They taught their disciples that He was truly present in the Bread and the Wine. This reverence has been practiced since the very first Divine Liturgy. Christ has always been worshipped and adored.
The fact that the Orthodox still in 2010 don’t have any remote type of Adoration testifies to the fact that it is a development. I’m not saying it’s an evil development but it is an innovation nevertheless.
I don’t know how much experience you have with the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Church, but it might be a good idea if you attended. It will be clear to you that adoration takes place during the liturgy.
There’s some evidence in Maccabees of praying for the dead. Does that equal a situation in which a treasury of merit can be tapped into for souls being purged through fire in a mystical place awaiting final holiness and perfection to enter God’s house?
No, I don’t think so. I think this notion was not made clear until the Apostles taught it.
I may be wrong about that, but I have not found any evidence of the Divine Treasury prior to the Apostle Paul.
This one I find more than a leap, this is a high jump and discus combined. Quite the contrary.
No, it is not a “leap”. Where do you think that the souls were for which prayer was commended in the book of Macabees?
I don’t claim to understand the mysteries of the afterlife, but Jesus’ teachings make it clear that the Jews believed in a place they called “the bosom of Abraham” which they conceived of as a place of the rightous dead. Jesus told the parable about Lazarus based on this concept. He was using concepts that were familiar to his hearers.
Purgatory is really best conceived of as a ‘state’ rather than a “place”, since it exists outside our space/time continuum. It is a place of purification where we are made fit to enter heaven. Some have described it as the place our muddy feet are washed after having walked in this world.
Quite the contrary. Paul testifies to the fact that we are justified by faith, Christ accomplished our salvation on the Cross, works lead to boasting, and yet we are supposed to keep our eye on the Lord, eye on the prize, all the way lest we lose our faith.
Indeed, we are justified by faith. Indulgences don’t change that. They are only accessible to those who are justified.
Jesus did not accomplish our salvation on the cross, though. If this were the case, then everyone would be saved, but they are not.
Keeping our eye on the Lord does is what prevents our good works from leading to boasting.
Paul would be the last proponent of indulgences that I could think of in all of human history? When did the Apostles practice indulgences?
Paul is the first that I have found that speaks to the concept of indulgences. Perhaps we need to have an agreement on the definition? Are we having a semantics problem? I think that Paul taught this concept becuase he had such clairty about the Church being a Body, indivisible.
